Wait a minute? People are surprised that Relient K has written a "Top 40 radio friendly" record?

Anyone who has been listening to them will know they have done nothing but written hits consistently. Album after album there have been songs that could (and should) have broken this band into the stratosphere. They're big, yes. They are much better song writers than they have ever been given credit for. That is absolutely evident here.

This band deals with tribulation that so many others don't have to. They get this self imposed "Christian" tag which leads so many people away from them.

Listen back, the hits are there. They've been doing it for years.

I consider this band the Blink 182 of the other side of the fence. They have been kicking the door down on pop punk and writing solid records from day one.

Wait a minute? People are surprised that Relient K has written a "Top 40 radio friendly" record?

Anyone who has been listening to them will know they have done nothing but written hits consistently. Album after album there have been songs that could (and should) have broken this band into the stratosphere. They're big, yes. They are much better song writers than they have ever been given credit for. That is absolutely evident here.

This band deals with tribulation that so many others don't have to. They get this self imposed "Christian" tag which leads so many people away from them.

Listen back, the hits are there. They've been doing it for years.

I consider this band the Blink 182 of the other side of the fence. They have been kicking the door down on pop punk and writing solid records from day one.

I seem to be in the minority of people who enjoy this album. Obviously, this is all subjective but besides Can't Complain and Don't Blink, I find all the songs to be really, really enjoyable. There seems to be a lot of people that are disappointed because of it's lack of similarity to FANSD, but I think Relient K has always had a big overtone of pop and they just let it out. I think this was a good effort by them and would bet that their next album will sound nothing like this, not because Collapsible Lungs was hated, but because it's just what they feel like doing at this point.

See, I can understand young RK being terrible. Matt was a teenager and super into god and youth group and being cheesy. He was young, just like the band and the lyrics reflected that. And over the years, each release was leaps and bounds better lyrically than what came before. You don't find a degression in lyrical quality as you move down their discography.

This is what people are complaining about. The music is fine, like everyone has said RK has always had some sort of pop laying underneath their songs. It's not surprising to hear synths in an RK release, what is surprising is that they chose now to do so. After the most instrumentally "pure" record they've done, with the most orchestration (other than Deathbed), and the most meaningful lyrics they've ever done, they follow it up with just words.

They don't mean anything, they don't ignite some passion from inside Thiessen, they don't inspire or cause me to sing out in my car, tingling inside because I can feel what Matt feels, no. They don't do anything. No line serves a purpose, no phrase holds any weight. It's just words. Not even words from Matt, they're just words from people who were apart of the process. It's disappointing. I get that Matt wanted a buffer, I really do. I would be fine if they kept all the same songs and the music, but a buffer record doesn't have to be flat and trite. He can still sing fun pop songs with substance. He just didn't do it.

And you know what, I really don't even care. I don't listen to this record any more. RK isn't even releasing it in stores. They don't seem to really care either. And I've talked to people. Matt knows what he did and is doing. He gets it. But, it's something he said he had to do. And I trust Matt, I'm just disappointed that he thought this was good enough to release. However, I get the sense that the next record is going to more than make up for this one small blip on an otherwise great run for the band.

See, I can understand young RK being terrible. Matt was a teenager and super into god and youth group and being cheesy. He was young, just like the band and the lyrics reflected that. And over the years, each release was leaps and bounds better lyrically than what came before. You don't find a degression in lyrical quality as you move down their discography.

This is what people are complaining about. The music is fine, like everyone has said RK has always had some sort of pop laying underneath their songs. It's not surprising to hear synths in an RK release, what is surprising is that they chose now to do so. After the most instrumentally "pure" record they've done, with the most orchestration (other than Deathbed), and the most meaningful lyrics they've ever done, they follow it up with just words.

They don't mean anything, they don't ignite some passion from inside Thiessen, they don't inspire or cause me to sing out in my car, tingling inside because I can feel what Matt feels, no. They don't do anything. No line serves a purpose, no phrase holds any weight. It's just words. Not even words from Matt, they're just words from people who were apart of the process. It's disappointing. I get that Matt wanted a buffer, I really do. I would be fine if they kept all the same songs and the music, but a buffer record doesn't have to be flat and trite. He can still sing fun pop songs with substance. He just didn't do it.

And you know what, I really don't even care. I don't listen to this record any more. RK isn't even releasing it in stores. They don't seem to really care either. And I've talked to people. Matt knows what he did and is doing. He gets it. But, it's something he said he had to do. And I trust Matt, I'm just disappointed that he thought this was good enough to release. However, I get the sense that the next record is going to more than make up for this one small blip on an otherwise great run for the band.

Interesting take on it, but he was referring to 'Young Relient K' as in 'Young New England', by Transit...not a literal young Relient K. Another large disappointment this year.